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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
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Adelaide Women's Prison

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (15:10): My question is to the Minister for Correctional Services. What arrangements are in place to support any women due to give birth while serving a custodial sentence, and what subsequent arrangements are in place to give the infant contact with its mother during the first vital weeks and months of life?

The Hon. C.J. PICTON (Kaurna—Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety, Minister Assisting the Minister for Health, Minister Assisting the Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse) (15:10): Thank you very much to the member for Florey for her question. Firstly, I note her strong interest in this area and, I understand, her long association with the Adelaide Women's Prison—as have a number of members in this house.

Early in the role as the minister for corrections, I had the delight to go and visit the Adelaide Women's Prison and, in particular, to see firstly a lot of the programs that are underway in that prison, including a significant number of programs aimed at the rehabilitation of prisoners in that prison; secondly, to see a number of the improvements that have been made in that prison for the amenity of prisoners and staff. There are a number of new units that the government has funded, including the new Ruby Unit, which is a significant improvement upon the previous accommodation. The first stage of that has just opened, I understand, this week, and the first prisoners have moved into that, and the second stage is now being worked on.

A further stage of work happening at the Adelaide Women's Prison is around the medical centre, and I met a lot of the staff in the medical centre at the Adelaide Women's Prison. To say that they are working in some very cramped accommodation at the moment is probably to put it mildly. It is very busy in there—a very small room. I saw that there were maybe 12 people working in what was quite a cramped location, so to have a new medical centre to provide facilities for those staff to work in and provide care for patients is I think to be welcomed by everybody.

In relation to prisoner births at the Women's Prison, these do happen from time to time. There are a number that happen every year. There is care that's provided, obviously, in association with hospitals and outpatient care in our public health system to make sure that those women get the care that they need.

In terms of what the member was trying to get at—do we need to have a special women's birthing area and children's area within the prison—that's not something that the government is contemplating at this time, although certainly a number of people have called for it. We look at the number of people who would have access to that. It is a very small number of people compared to the expense that it would have. Certainly, it's something that I would be happy to continue—

Mr Gardner interjecting:

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: —to talk to the member about and, coming into this role, I am happy to talk to her about any concerns that she has in that area and the care that we provide for the women in the women's prison when they are giving birth. There are obviously a lot of complexities in terms of that care and also in terms of a lot of interaction with the child protection system, obviously, for a number of the cases there. Obviously, we are very keen to make sure that we improve the care for women, and that's certainly what the investment in the medical centre is about.

The SPEAKER: The member for Morialta I call to order for using a member's Christian name instead of the member's electorate name. The member for Florey.

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